Saudi Arabia Continues Boycott of
Israel

(August 2, 2006)

By David Krusch

In November 2005, as a condition
of joining the World Trade Organization, Saudi
Arabia was required to lift its trade boycott
of Israel. The United
States and Israel both
agreed to allow the Arab kingdom into the WTO if it
agreed to cease the boycott. Since that time, the United
States has asked and received several assurances from
the Saudis that it is not enforcing the boycott; however,
the kingdom has both participated in and hosted boycott
conferences, and is continuing to prohibit Israeli-made
goods from entering the country.

Susan Schwab, a senior
U.S. trade official, told a Congressional
hearing that the boycott had in fact been
lifted. However, there are several examples
of direct evidence that illustrate the contrary.
In the 44-page “Saudi Arabia and
the WTO” report
prepared by Brad Bourland, chief economist
at the Saudi Samba Financial Group, one section
states that, “Saudi
Arabia’s stance toward Israel does
not change due to WTO accession....The primary Arab
League boycott
of Israel remains in place.”

This was confimed by the
Saudis themselves when an official at the
Commerce and Industry Ministry denied the
Kingdom had lifted the boycott. “The
Kingdom has lifted only the second and third
degree boycott,” the official said.

On March 13, 2006, the Saudis hosted
the Organization of the Islamic Conference’s
annual boycott meeting with the intention of amplifying
the boycott against Israel, which immediately aroused
suspicion in Congress about Saudi Arabia’s complicity
with WTO regulations. In early May, an official Saudi
delegation went to Damascus to
participate in a meeting organized by the Arab League’s
boycott office. The meeting called for greater efforts
to block Israeli products from entering those Arab
nations enforcing
the boycott. According to the boycott office’s
commissioner general Mohammad al-Tayyeb Bouslaa, Arab
nations “need
to tighten the boycott as a way to express our rejection
of aggression, and to force Israel to implement UN resolutions.” Saudi
Arabia participated, while countries such as Egypt, Jordan,
and Mauritania — nations
who have relations with Israel — were absent.

Saudi officials have also publicly
stated their intentions of continuing to enforce
the boycott. “If
a product is made in Israel, then...It is not allowed
here. That is the law here in Saudi Arabia, and we
do not allow those kinds of things into the kingdom,” said
Muhammad al-Matrafi, a spokesman for the Director’s
Office of the King
Khalid Airport in Riyadh.

A Saudi customs official said definitively
that, “There is still a ban on Israeli products,
and anything declared as coming from Israel will not
be allowed.”

On April 5, 2006, the House of Representatives
unanimously passed
a resolution urging President
Bush to pressure
Saudi Arabia to live up to its WTO commitments. The
resolution states that, “Saudi Arabia should
maintain and fully live up to its commitments under
the World Trade Organization (WTO) and end all aspects
of any boycott on Israel; and the President...should
urge Saudi Arabia to end any boycott on Israel.”